Good or Bad? Blue Exorcist Anime is Diverting Away from the Manga

Overview

Background

After taking the project with the respects from the previous wiki editor team: Hibaru and Dscythe911, my partner, Anna, and I are working on the Blue Exorcist anime project. With our usual work on the episodes, we often write anime/manga differences for the points of interests section. Usually, I read the chapter after I watch the episode and complete its plot summary.

Plot of Blue Exorcist

Blue Exorcist is about a troubled teenage boy, Rin, who finds out he can see demons one day. When his father tells Rin about who is real father is, Rin's life is forever change.

Point of Divergence

I believed the anime has diverted since episode 17 because it has taken a different path from the episode Gamble. Even though the manga chapter, Gamble, has some differences from the anime version (ep. 16), it still shared the same plot line.

Even though the anime has been unfaithful to the manga's story line, I still believed the anime will end well. It's not like my previous work, Shaman King, where its anime is not considered canon enough for me to add it to the story arcs for the character pages.

The Two Outcomes

Good

If the anime does not follow the manga's story line, it must end well and open new character evolutions or add new insight to the characters and the plot. To be honest, I find it more interesting when there's something different that sets the anime apart from the manga.

A drastic example would like how the original Fullmetal Alchemist had different ideas on how Homunculi are born.

For Blue Exorcist anime, it has to have something that makes it stand out from its manga counterpart.

Yukio's spots - They appear to be signs of Yukio becoming a demon, but they haven't revealed it yet.

Bad

Ambiguity is like candy. Too much makes you sick, and too little makes you crave more. For anime, too much ambiguity leads to many unanswered questions. Too little ambiguity lowers the amount of discussion with the questions. It's like lowering the replay value where you pretty much found out everything. Some people like to re watch movies to find out little details to answer their questions.

If Blue Exorcist ends with an ambiguous ending such as Rin not accomplishing his dream or what happen in Izumo's past, the target of the show is pretty much gone. I'm curious, but I don't want it to end with goals left unfinished such as Rin's vows to kick Satan's ass. That's what drives the story and hooks the viewers.

Neutral

The third option if it's neither good nor bad.

Please feel free to comment if it's a good or a bad thing, or to predict about the anime's outcome.